Practice drum



27, 1931. STEVENS 1,789,992

PRACTICE DRUM Filed April 10, 1929 lnvenior George ESTevenS 'ATTYS'.

Patented Jan. 27, 1931 a UNITED S A -Es PATENT OFFICE GEORGE E. STEVENS, OF LACONIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE PRACTICE DRUM Application filed April 10, 1929. Serial No. 354,107.

This inventionrelates to a practice drum Fig. 3 is a section sulmtantially on the line designed to be used by persons learning to fi Zl, Fig. 1; drum and has for its object to provide a novel Fig. 4 is a bottom plan View of the practice practice drum which is practically noiseless drum;

5 in operation but on which one may obtain the Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on 55 same kind of practice as he could on a regular substantially the line 5-5. Fig. i;

drum. A drum a noisy musical inst'ru- Fig. 6 an enlarged section on the line ment and drum practice on a regular drum is 66, Fig.

likely to be annoying to persons in the same The practice drum herein shown comprises building or occupying rooms adjacent to that an ordinary drum head 1 which is formed in occupied by the person practicing. the usual way by skin 2 stretched over any An object of fmypresent invention is to annular ring 3. This drum head is supprovidea novel practice drum which can be ported on a base-4 which may conveniently be carried in the same way that an ordinary a disk of wood and interposed between the drum is but whichcan be practiced on withhead. 2 and the base 4- is a sound-absorbing 65 out causing any noise which will be anna'iying pad 5. 'lhis'pad 5 may be made of felt or to persons near. a one or more layers of woolen cloth or it may My improved practice druincomprises a be a plural ply pad composed of layers oi. drum head made of usual construction which cloth and rubber or it might even be an allis mounted on a. base or support carrying a rubber pad or be made of any other soundsound-absorbing pad against which the drum absorbing or vibration-absorbiug material. head rests, the construction being such that The base 4 is of less diameter than the ring the impact of the drum sticks against the 3 and the pad will preferably be of substandrum head will produce no annoying sound. tially the same diameter as the base 4. The

Since the de ice comprises an ordinary drum head, the base and the pad are assemdrum head the drummer is enabled not only bled as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 with the pad t acquire th t h i f i htj th resting against the taut skin ot the drnn'i head 1 i k b 1 h ig bl d t acquire and the annular ring 3 situatciloulside of the H the feel of the drum head so that the change The 1191M 1S Y j' i' -Y l from the practice drum to a regular drum is against 9 P l y 9 F fi "}l SO hardly noticeable. device which will maintain tne skin firmly pressed against the pad.

One simple and convenient clamping device is herein shown and this comprises a plurality of clamping members 6, each hav- 8 ing an arm 7 provided at its upper end with v My improved practice drum is further so constructed that it can be carried by the drummer and when so carried will be held with the drum head in the same position as d Occupied by a regular drum when It IS a hook portion 8 to hook over the ring and be ng carried and hence the drummer can obeach also having another arm 9 at substam tam the practice necessary to enable him to n right angles to the mm 7 and Mud; play the drum while standing or marching. jug underneath the base This arm 9 is 90 In OM91 lo .2 et of the bent or deformed to produce the bearing poi; invention I have illustrated in the drawings ti 10 hi rests against the back Side of a selected embodiment thereof which will th di 4 d th d f th arm 9 n anow be described after which the novel fe a bolt or screw 11 which is anchored in the tures will be pointed out :in the appended disk 4, said bolt or screw extending through claims. an aperture in the arm 9. The bolt or screw Fig. 1 is a view showing how the practice carries a clamping nut 12 which is adapted to drum is used; applying clamping pressure to the end of the Fig. 2 is an enlarged section through the arm.

drum on substantially the line 22, Fig. 1; This member 6 acts as a clamping lever loo which is tulcrumed against the back of the disk at as shown at 10 and hence as the clamping nut 12 is tightened and pressure is applied to the inner end of the arm 9 the ring 3 will be subjected to a pressure or force tending to press the central portion of the drum head against the pad 5.

any desired number of these clamping members may be used. I have herein shown tour. They operate to yieldingly 'holdthe head of the drumagainst the sound-absorbing pad 5 and in case the drum head shows any sign of slackness the nuts 12 "may be turned up to tighten the head again.

I have also provided anoveliorm of carrier for the practice drum designed to hold it with its drum head in the same position as that occupied by the head of an oroinary drum when it is worn. Secured to the bottom of the disk 1 is an arm or supporting bracket 13 which is provided at its outer end with two apertures 14. The drum is carried by a wire support 15 which is in the form of a loop adapted to loop up over the shoulder oi the person 16 carrying the drum, one side 17 of the loop extending down in front of the person and the other side in back of the person. 7

At the lower end of the suspender the two sides 17 and 18 are curved slightly as shown in Figs. 1 ant 5 and said ends extend through the apertures 14. 19 indicate set screws which screw into the sides of the arm 13 and engage the two arms or sides of the suspender 15 as shown in Fig. 6. This construction permits the drum to be adjusted vertically.

The supporting arm 13lis adjustably secured to the disk l: so that it may be adjusted in a radial direction. For this purpose said arm is provided with a slot 20 through which extends two clamping screws 21 that are anchored in the disk l, said screws having clamping nuts 22 screw threaded thereto. By loosening the clamping nuts the arm 13 maybe adjusted slightly, said adjustment being maintained by tightening the nuts again. These adjustments permit the practice drum to be so adjusted that the drum head will be held at the right angle and in the correct position for the drummer.

An important advantage resulting from my invention is that it gives the drummer a chance to practice the art of drumming vhile standing or marching as could not be done if the practice drum were one which could only'be used while supported on a table or any other convenient support.

I claim:

1. A practice drum comprisinga base, a sound-absorbing pad supported by the base, a. drum head comprisinga skin stretched on "a ring, said drum headresting' on the pad,

and means'for clamping the drum head to the pad. V

2. A practice drum comprising a base, a

back side of the base and means to apply clamping pressure to said clamping members.

i. A practice drum having a wooden base, a sound-absorbing pad supported by the base. a drum head composed of skin stretched on a ring, said drum head resting against said pad, angular clamping members each having a hook portion at the end of one arm which hooks over the ring of the drum head, the other arm of each clamping member engaging the back face of the base, and means to 7 apply clamping pressure to said arms.

5. A practice drum having a wooden base, a sound-absorbing pad supported by the base, a drum head composed of skin stretched on a ring, said drum headresting against said pad, angular clamping members each having a hook portion at the end of one arm which hooks over the ring of the drumhead, the other arm oteach clamping member having af fulcrum portion engaging the back face of the base member, the end of said arm being separated from the base member, and means engaging said end or each arm by which'a clampingpressure is applied thereto. whereby each arm is clamped against the head through the fulcrum portion thereof.

6. Apractice drum comprising a drum head in theform of a skin stretched over a ring. a'supportfor thedrum head in the form of a wooden disk of less diameter than said ring, a sound-absorbing pad interposed between the drum head and the disk, the central portion'of the drum head resting directl'y against said pad and said pad also being of less diameter than the ring, and means for clamping the drum headagainst said pad.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification. V

GEORGE E. STEVEI S. 

